Comment on Does anyone struggle with spending money foolishly on prostitutes?
Flax_vert@feddit.uk 20 hours agoWhat makes you believe, aside from your attempts to manage your terror of non-existence, that any of your morality matters at all?
Because I believe that the moral code I follow was authored by a Creator higher than the universe.
If you’re an atheist, morality simply is just a suggestion.
Cracks_InTheWalls@sh.itjust.works 19 hours ago
It is enforced, by varying degrees, by the censure or support of other humans, as well as one’s own conscience.
The moral code you follow may have been authored by a creator figure. It may not have. Frankly, it’s beside the point. In practice, Christian morality is enforced by support or censure of the church and its teachings. It takes as its bedrock a shared conception of humanity as the Created. An atheist’s or humanist’s morality is similarly enforced by support or censure of their human community, though with a different bedrock (a belief in the dignity and capacities of humanity, for instance, either absent of or separate from a deity).
One does not need to be a Christian to act morally. It does mean certain lines may be drawn in areas different than a Christian, but I would say that that simply makes the individual a non-Christian where those lines do not otherwise impede on, say, humanity’s inherent dignity.
I want to say I write this with full respect for your beliefs in your Creator. I believe tolerance for the beliefs of others, where they do not impede on those who do not share those beliefs to live their lives freely, is important. I will add that if OP was being truthful, and actually is a Christian struggling with soliciting sex workers, your suggestion to seek out the Church is a valid one. If nothing else, it places him among humans that share the values he seeks to embody, and may help him on the path he wishes to walk.
For my part, I see no issue so long as both parties enter these arrangements with no coercion or out of compulsion, with the issue here being the compulsion. If it feels bad, and it serves no greater aim, don’t do it, figure out why you’re doing it, and do things more aligned with your morals and ideals - that’s my take.